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Hughes Airwest was an airline in the western United States, backed by the Summa Corporation of Howard Hughes. The original name for the airline was Air West. Hughes Airwest flew routes in the western U.S. and to a few cities in Mexico and Canada; it was purchased by Republic Airlines on October 1, 1980.〔 Its headquarters were on the grounds of San Francisco International Airport in unincorporated San Mateo County, California.〔"World Airline Directory." ''Flight International''. April 28, 1979. (1379 ).〕 == History == On April 17, 1968 three "local service" airlines in the western U.S. merged to form Air West: * Pacific Air Lines, which was previously Southwest Airways when it was founded in 1941, was based in San Francisco and flew along the coast and also California's Central Valley, linking cities from Medford, Oregon, to Southern California. Pacific operated Boeing 727-100s and Fairchild F-27s in 1968. * Bonanza Air Lines routes reached west from its Phoenix base to Southern California and north to Las Vegas, Reno and Salt Lake City. Bonanza flew Douglas DC-9-10s and Fairchild F-27s in 1968, with a Douglas DC-9-30 on order, delivered after the merger. * West Coast Airlines, based at Boeing Field in Seattle, served the Pacific Northwest, Idaho, Utah, Montana and northern California. West Coast operated Douglas DC-9-10s, Fairchild F-27s and Piper Navajos in 1968. The initial Air West fleet included Boeing 727-100s, Douglas DC-9s, Fairchild F-27s, and Piper Navajos. The first new addition to the Air West fleet was a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 which had been ordered by Bonanza Air Lines. Hughes Airwest became an all-jet airline in 1979 with Boeing 727-200s and DC-9s and was then acquired by and merged into Republic Airlines (1979–1986) in 1980. Hungry for another adventure in the airline industry, TWA's former owner Howard Hughes sought the airline in 1968, and the deal was finalized in 1970. The airline was renamed Hughes Air West and its call sign became "Hughes Air." It expanded to several cities in the western United States, Canada and Mexico. With the new yellow paint scheme, unveiled 28 September 1971, the airline began calling itself Hughes Airwest, two words instead of the initial three word name. The airline participated in some movies in the 1970s, most notably ''The Gauntlet'' with Clint Eastwood and Sondra Locke in 1977. Eastwood's character arrives in Las Vegas from Phoenix on the airline and when he later phones the airport for flight departure times, Locke's character sarcastically called the airline, "Air ''Worst''." Like other local service airlines in the 1970s, Hughes Airwest eliminated many stops and opened longer routes. Service expanded to resorts in Mexico; domestic routes didn't reach east of Utah and Arizona until Denver, Des Moines, Milwaukee, and Houston Hobby Airport were added in 1978. In September 1979 the airline was grounded for two months by a walkout by their ticket agents, reservations handlers, and office employees, who had been without a contract for over a year. During 1979 several airlines showed interest in buying Hughes Airwest, including Alaska and Allegheny, with the latter soon becoming USAir. The strike was resolved in late October and flights resumed in November. Four months later they were the target of a buyout by Republic Airlines, which was finalized on October 1, 1980, for $38.5 million.〔 Republic had been formed in July 1979 via the merger of North Central Airlines and Southern Airways, the first under airline deregulation. Republic was acquired by Northwest Airlines in 1986, which in turn was merged into Delta Air Lines in 2010. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Hughes Airwest」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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